General Electric (GE) recently announced the completion of a gas turbine upgrade project at Avista's Coyote Springs Power Generation Facility in Boardman, Oregon.
The 280-megawatt (MW) power generation facility installed GE's Advanced Gas Path (AGP) and Dry Low NOx 2.6+ (DLN2.6+) combustion technologies, which increased the plant's capacity by 18 MW in combined-cycle mode and fuel efficiency by 1.56 percent.
The AGP technology will contribute to increased durability of the gas turbine equipment and extend maintenance intervals from three to four years, which will help improve Avista's competitiveness by reducing operational costs and shortening downtime for maintenance. The DLN2.6+ combustion system will enhance the facility's flexibility without using additional water in the process.
"This upgrade project made sense because a more flexible combined-cycle plant allows us to better respond to increased energy demands during the winter months and support regional grid stability," said Jason Thackston, Avista's senior vice president of energy resources. "Increasing the capacity of our existing facilities also reduces the urgency to build new generating capacity in the region."
The project is the latest in a series of combined-cycle upgrade projects for GE's Power Services business in North America. GE recently announced that Dynegy Inc., a leading independent power producer with 35 power stations in eight states, is installing GE hardware and software equipment to upgrade and modernize four of its power plants. Dynegy is upgrading the plants to enhance their reliability and increase their output by 210 MW.
For more information, visit www.ge.com.
